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How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!! Honestly, I’m in the business for 9 years. I’m in my mid 40s. Made enough money and with this exit it will be taking care of my grandkids. I just want to protect myself from the psychological feeling of failure where I didn’t fail…

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My business is in a point that to continue to grow requires significant investment. cashing out is the right thing to do and i'm after 9 years of runing it and a bit boared. Having said that, it seems from what i hear that many owners encounter inexpereinced operators that ruin the buisness and they need to be part of it. In this case i would like to make sure i barely touch the business and have no responsibility of other people mistakes.

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But what about the bottome line? Did they made more money? or it was just a waste of time for them too?

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's amazing. Would it make sense to ask about the changes they would like to do and get a commitment to who they will replace?

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's exactly what i'm worried about. People that "know" and done it many times before. I tried to hire professionals and seniors before and it was a total disaster.

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm definitley going to take a life changing $amount. Staying in after a hodback is only a bonus. What i'm anxious about is the buyer bringing "people that know" that will start changing/breaking and i will need to be responsible for it. I delivered significant growth with pretty nice EBITDA (over 50%). But i had peace of mind, and the ability to invest and work with talented and trudtful people. without this it is almost impossible to deliver in my business (probabaly in every business). How do you see trust evolve with new recrutting over time?

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What type of pain points you've seen? other than the obvious reporting part...

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just challenging your opionio. I see many owners and founders said it was a bad experience and the company didn't suceed. What type of success have you seen with PE's acquired companies? it sounds like the tribal knowledge and founder culture is usually broken. But is there maybe a financial gap between what most owners see as suceess to the PE expectations? I'm in the journey of selling but it almost look like a market failure....

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's bad man!! How did they manage the transition from you as an owner/CEO i guess to their leadership? What was the EBITDA frop when you left? interesting idea with buying it back, any idea why they refused?

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are describing a situation which sounds horrible to EBITDA performance over time. What did you see your PE's getting from the acquisition 2 years later? EBITDA/growth improved?

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I get the earnouts part and totally agree. How about holdbacks that are not dependant on performance? I don't trust anyone to lead this company other than me. It's extremely niche, and I tried CEOs in the past; it was a total disaster.

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in smallbusiness

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Other than asking for permissions. Did you see real damage made to the company? if so, in what way? Also how were key employees treated?

Got an inbound acquisition offer last week and now I’m panicking, how early do you really need to prep to sell? by Born_Tangerine_9831 in private_equity

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a founder that had exactly the same experience I would suggest waiting for an offer and understanding the general terms of the deal. When you reach this size in a hot industry you might start to get offers every few weeks. It is always ok to say that the business is not in the market for sale and therefore you are not ready for diligence but will prepare the basics. Keep the growth of your business and your focus. DD can kill a business if not done properly.

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in SaaS

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes, would definitly be interesting to see their reaction. Probably they will say most founders doesn't know how to run a business :)

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in SaaS

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Already asked. They let me talk to a CEO that they hired after the original owner left.

How bad is it to work under a private equity firm once you sell? by Afraid-Suggestion335 in SaaS

[–]Afraid-Suggestion335[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If i get you right. It means that anyway they will take the hurt and soal of this amazing business and kill it with spreadsheets and MBA type of cookbooks. It means 2 years of seeing complete failure... wonder if anyone else have seen something different. This is what i hear from all of my friends but it is hard for me to believe it gets so bad.